Interim Management Report of Fund Performance (in U.S. dollars)
Management Discussion of Fund Performance
Investment Objective and Strategies
Sprott Physical Gold Trust (the “Trust”) is a closed-end mutual fund trust organized under the laws of the Province of Ontario, Canada. Sprott Asset Management LP (the “Manager”) is the manager of the Trust. The Trust was created to invest and hold substantially all of its assets in physical gold bullion. The Trust seeks to provide a secure, convenient and exchange-traded investment alternative for investors interested in holding physical gold bullion without the inconvenience that is typical of a direct investment in physical gold bullion. The Trust intends to achieve its objective by investing primarily in long-term holdings of unencumbered, fully allocated, physical gold bullion and does not speculate with regard to short-term changes in gold prices.
The units of the Trust are listed on the New York Stock Exchange Arca (“NYSE Arca”) under the ticker symbol “PHYS”, and the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) under the ticker symbols “PHYS” and “PHYS.U”.
Risks
There have been no changes to the Trust over the financial period that materially affected the risk level of the Trust.
Results of Operations
For the three months ended September 30, 2024, the total change in unrealized gains on physical gold bullion amounted to $981.3 million and no net realized gains, compared to the change in unrealized losses of $230.1 million and net realized gains of $6.5 million during the same period in 2023. For the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the total change in unrealized gains on physical gold bullion amounted to $1,749.0 million and net realized gains of $44.2 million, compared to the change in unrealized gains of $54.3 million and net realized gains of $14.7 million during the same period in 2023.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Trust issued 26,215,941 units through the at-the-market offering program (the “ATM Program”) for gross proceeds of $495.2 million, and redeemed 11,027,895 units for $180.5 million of gold bullion and no units redeemed for cash. Comparatively, for the same period in 2023, the Trust issued 9,309,538 units for gross proceeds of $145.3 million, and redeemed 5,092,868 units for $75.9 million of gold bullion, and 7,419 units for $0.1 million of cash.
The value of the net assets1 of the Trust as at September 30, 2024 was $8,617.5 million or $20.69 per unit, compared to $6,531.7 million or $16.28 per unit as at December 31, 2023. The Trust held 3,268,726 ounces of physical gold bullion as at September 30, 2024 compared to 3,153,868 ounces of physical gold bullion at December 31, 2023. As at September 30, 2024, the spot price of gold bullion was $2,634.58 per ounce compared to a spot price of gold bullion of $2,062.98 per ounce as at December 31, 2023. The Trust returned 27.1% compared to the return on spot gold of 27.7% for the nine months ended September 30, 2024. Comparatively, for the same period in 2023, the Trust returned 1.0% compared to the return on spot gold of 1.4%.
The units closed at $20.38 on the NYSE Arca and $20.37 on the TSX on September 30, 2024, compared to closing prices of $15.93 on the NYSE Arca and $15.95 on the TSX on December 31, 2023. These units are denominated in U.S. dollars on both exchanges. During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Trust’s units traded on the NYSE Arca at an average discount to net asset value of approximately 1.5%, compared to approximately 1.7% for the same period in 2023.